America and its Collision Course

Energy ESP #7 - America and its Collision Course

Crude oil explodes through $46.50 as the problems are growing -

It's bigger than Iraq, bigger than Bin Laden and even bigger than
the next election. America has entered into an exhaustive race
for survival - And nobody is talking about it.

Talking about what you ask?

"Taking down Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure is like spearing
fish in a barrel... a coordinated assault on five or more key
[pipelines]junctions in the system could put the Saudis out of
the oil business for two years..." Robert Baer, Former CIA
officer, USA Today, May 10 2004.

In a country portrayed to be the wealthiest oil nation in the
world, Saudi Arabia also has the greatest divergence between
the wealthy and poor. With the average individual income at
$7,500 per year the poor is kept at bay by charity. Something
we all know the Saudis are good at. Men by the hundreds line up
to meet the prince and ask (is it asking or begging) for
financial help for whatever ails them. Is this charity? Or is
it a clever way to keep the not-so-fortunate from rising up?
Over generations of this practice, the locals have become
accustom. At what point do they rebel against these extreme
unjust ways of life that they have been delt.? At what point do
AMERICANS realize that this is the kind of society we depend
way too much on and far too often?!?!

CNBC reported last week that OPEC (or could we just say the House
of Saud) said that 'the current average price of oil is not
sufficient (high) enough to meet the needs of the OPEC
countries.' Gee... wonder why the 10 year oil futures have been
propelling themselves into space over the past few years? ? What
does this all mean?... America is dependent on an extremely
unstable country(s). I fear that this will soon come to a head
and Americans will be up the creek with only half a paddle.

Over the past 30 years., approx. 75% of U.S. trade deficit was
money gone to oil imports - That must change What Americans don't
realize is the great divergence in the prices of the things we
consume. . . and it's about to catch up. . . One quart of oil for
you car costs between $2-$5. One gallon as gas about $2. But if
you're in a restaurant and order a Coke or a glass of milk, it is
nearly SIX times that. Now you tell me something, do you need a
"Coke and a smile" to get to work in the morning? FACT - Saudi
OIL FIELDS are shrinking as oil prices are flying. During the
70's, 15 oil fields pumped one million barrels per day - Today
only two of those are at a steady (or is it) one million.

OPEC's SECRET SHORTAGE THAT THEY WONT TELL YOU - Today's oil
reserves estimates DO NOT include the two billion barrels of oil
that was burned in the 91' Gulf War. Yet, OPEC has added 287
billion barrels to their reserves without claiming any new oil
discovery. - Anyone smell anything fishy???

All this is reason enough that Americans need to work together,
in a NON-PARTISAN effort and bring CLEAN - RENEWABLE ENERGY TO
AMERICAN SOIL ASAP!! America needs to follow in the foot step of
Denmark - where they actually produce more electricity than they
consume... and sell the rest.

ANYONE you know, if they are in college or not - PLEASE
forward them this newsletter. Spread the word! It will take
everyone you know!



By Kevin Gluckstal

Positive Effects of Carbon Dioxide for Plant Growth

Many articles have been written about the negative effects of carbon dioxide. Sick Building Syndrome, loss of concentration due to high levels of carbon dioxide, asphyxiation in breweries or wine cellars, all these things spring to mind when we hear the magic phrase carbon dioxide. Yet, perhaps today when Venus passes across the face of the Sun, we should remember that our original atmosphere consisted of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Free oxygen is something that is not really chemically possible. Yet we have it as a result of plant life busily photosynthesising and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen during daylight hours. This is the original use of solar energy!

Plants require carbon dioxide to grow and why not help them by increasing the level of carbon dioxide? Normally, this is something that is undesirable, since carbon dioxide is the original greenhouse gas, as our neighbouring planet Venus can testify. But in a controlled, genuine greenhouse environment, there is no real reason why the level of carbon dioxide should not be enhanced in some way.

Indeed, tests have shown that increasing the level of carbon dioxide in a greenhouse to 550 ppm will accelerate plant growth by 30 - 40 %. The natural level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is around 450 ppm, having increased from about 250 ppm in the last ice-age, so this slight increase may not appear significant at first sight. The point of the matter is that the level of carbon dioxide in the average greenhouse with the ventilation system closed will drop sharply due to uptake by the plants and will lie around 150 - 200 ppm if nothing is done about it. In summer the ventilation system will be open and the fresh air circulation will augment the level to a useful degree. But what about those long, cold, dark northern winters? Most commercial greenhouses will have lighting and heating systems to encourage plant growth, but you still cannot open the ventilation and allow the cold outside air into your heated greenhouse without losing all the early crops. The only real solution is to augment the natural level of carbon dioxide in some way. Where it is used, the general rule of thumb is to augment by about 1000 ppm when the sun is shining (or all the lights are on!) and keep the level around 400 ppm during times of darkness. This will require monitoring, since there are so many variable factors involved and a simple control unit using an infrared sensor will be able to keep the concentration of gas constant at all times.

Rate of consumption varies with crop, light intensity, temperature, stage of crop development and nutrient level. An average consumption level is estimated to be between 0.12 - 0.24 kg/hr/100 m2 of greenhouse floor area. The higher rate reflects the typical usage for sunny days and a fully-grown crop. This equates to roughly 150 litres of carbon dioxide per hour.

There are many processes that naturally and unavoidably produce carbon dioxide: Fermentation and combustion are two classic examples. In temperate zones it is necessary to heat a greenhouse (glasshouse is just another word for the same thing), and this heating will almost always involve the burning of fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide. This leads to the natural urge to re-circulate the exhaust gas from the heating system into the greenhouse and so achieve a double advantage for the plants. This will require careful monitoring of the flue gas to ensure that there are at the most only traces of carbon monoxide being passed into the greenhouse. This is not only bad for the plants but also potentially lethal to the people working there! Such technology is available with gas monitors that will measure the carbon monoxide concentration continuously and have analogue outputs that can be used to regulate the burners or operate a trip to switch the unit off should problems occur. The combination of breweries with greenhouse systems is also serious business in some areas. Generally, these methods are to be approved and should really be worthy of government support. Not only are they producing crops, they are removing a pollutant that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere.

Monitoring of the added carbon dioxide is essential, however, since high concnetrations of carbon dioxide can lead to dizziness or even unconciousness of the personnel. Some plants will require higher levels of nutrients to compensate for some of the changes that occur. Particularly tomatoes and violets are sensitive to increased levels of carbon dioxide, hence the need for constant monitoring of the ambient concentration.

By Simon Fowler

Get Hot on Combustion

Energy in the form of heat is obtained when fuel is burnt in air. The release of this heat energy can be slow or can be very rapid.

When fuel oil is sprayed as a fine mist in the boiler burners, it is able to burn at a relatively slow rate. When fuel is sprayed into the cylinders of diesel engines, the fuel burns in such a rapid rate that explosions occur. Fortunately, these explosions are protected from persons as these engines are called internal combustion engines.

Whatever type of combustion, it is a chemical reaction between carbon, hydrogen, sulphur and oxygen.

C + O2 = CO2
2CO + O2 = 2CO
2H2 + O2 = 2H2O
S + O2 = SO2
2S + 3O2 = 2SO3

Air consists of 77% Nitrogen and 23% Oxygen by mass. For a particular design of combustion air, the theoritical oxygen multiplied by 100/23 will give the theoritical air required.

How do you measure a good combustion. The percentage of Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide will tell us whether the combustion is good or not good.

The lower the Oxygen content in the exhaust gas, the better the combustion. It means that the Oxygen has been fully utilized for burning. It also means that the fuel air ratio is set properly. Too much excess air is no good because the heat generated will be lost through the exhaust trunking.

Boilers are able to achieve a good combustion. Oxygen content percentage of up to 5% or lower can be achieved.

Internal combustion engines have a lot of excess air because mixing of the combustible mixture is a challenge for them. Furthermore, the combustion is meant to provide the power to drive the pistons.

The burning of sulphur in the fuel is a problem for combustion equipment. This is because the byproducts of combustion will create sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide. These will react with the water, also a byproduct of combustion of Hydrogen to form sulphuric acid and sulphurous acid.

SO3 + H2O = H2SO4
SO2 + H2O = H2SO3
2H2SO3 + O2 = H2SO4

However, the effects of corrosion, called low temperature corrosion can be avoided by keeping the temperature above the dewpoint. That means to keep the exhaust temperature high so that water droplets will not form on the exhaust ducts.

Folks, get hot!

Until next time?

"Attract CUSTOMERS With Smells!"

The Valuable Individual

How can we, as individuals, participate in waste management? Because some of us are so overwhelmed with Earth's problems, we feel that our contributions have no real consequence in the end. For others, social barriers can be an issue. A lady we once knew confessed that she did not want to be seen buying used items or being concerned with power use. She was worried people would see her as cheap - a scrooge - when the family was so affluent. Yet, she was very careful to be seen with recycling bins out on the curb on pick-up day, because that was thought to be the thing to do socially. Now is a good time to put an end to these negative thoughts and feelings of false pride. Waste reduction is not about ego - it is about the health of the planet and of our nation.

Communities would be wise to look at Nova Scotia's waste reduction success and try to emulate it in their area. With the highest waste reduction rates in Canada, Nova Scotia has reduced landfill contributions by 46% - saving about $31 million per year - simply by making the most of the organic and recyclable materials. Curbside recycling service (Blue Box) is available to 99% of its residents and 76% now enjoy curbside organic service (a.k.a. Green Box).

With better management of organic and recyclable waste, we will find we do not have to put the trash out as often because the odors and volume are greatly decreased. As a fiscal incentive, many garbage collection companies offer discounts to homes with reduced waste.

We can also help the waste management industry run more efficiently. For instance, when only full garbage bags and Blue or Green boxes are put out on the curb, the garbage truck does not have to stop as often and burn fossil fuels inefficiently while idling. (Incidentally, vehicle idling is responsible for 3% of the air pollution problem.) Similarly, by collapsing boxes before recycling we are ensuring that space is used more efficiently, thereby reducing the number of bins needed for transporting materials.

Recycling, alone, has a huge impact on the environment. A study of a 100-unit apartment building practicing maximum recycling found it would save 21.93 thirty-foot trees, 26.86 cubic yards of landfill space, 8,389 kilowatts of electricity, and 77.4 pounds of air pollution in just one year! So you see, these seemingly small choices and efforts towards waste management really do make a difference.

-- Written by Dave and Lillian Brummet

Why Condition Your Boiler Water?

A boiler is used for generating steam. It does this by heating water to its boiling point, after which steam will evaporate from it.

When you boil a kettle of water, you will shut off the fire or electric power when the water comes to a boil.

No so with a steam boiler. Generation of steam is a continuous process. Once a boiler is generating steam, it may take quite a long while before it is stopped. When steam is evaporated from the water, new water has to be added in to replace the water given out.

As more and more steam is evaporated, the water becomes more and more concentrated with salts and other impurities. If you use your kettle for a long while, you will see some chalky deposits inside it.

The fresh water supplied to replenish those lost through evaporation cannot be pure and free from salts. Even minute quantities of salt in the water will eventually become so concentrated as to form scales or deposits. The deposits are usually calcium or magnesium salts.

These scales are very damaging to the boiler because they interfere with the heat transfer and can lead to overheating and eventually, boiler rupture.

Soft water is water that contains very little calcium or magnesium salts. They are used to feed the boilers. However, they tend to be acidic in nature.

Acidic water tends to corrode. This is not good for the boiler. Corrosion can weaken the boiler.

By treating the boiler water with chemicals, we can control the acidity of the water as well as the softness of the water. This will solve the problem with scales and corrosion, but it is not the ultimate cure-all.

The boiler water will continue to become more and more concentrated as the steam evaporates. The next step to take is to remove the concentrated water and replenish it with fresh, soft water.

The process of removing the concentrated water is called blow-down.

Folks, close your ears!

Until next time?

Tsunami Defined

Tsunami is a Japanese term that describes a large seismically generated sea wave which is capable of considerable destruction in certain coastal areas, especially where underwater earthquakes occur.

In Japanese, "Tsunami" means "Harbor Wave" or "Wave In The Harbor" It is now internationally accepted as the term that defines a "Seismic Seawave."

In South America, the term "Maremoto" is frequently used to describe a Tsunami.

Tsunami is pronounced: (sue-NAM-ee)

Tsunami's have been incorrectly referred to as "tidal waves." A tidal wave is a non-technical term for a shallow water wave caused by the gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon, and Earth (high water is the crest of a tidal wave and low water is the trough).

Tsunami's are formed by a displacement of water. This can come from the slippage of the boundaries between two tectonic plates, volcanic eruption, under-water earthquake, or even landslides.

Out in the open ocean, Tsunami's might only be 1 meter in height, but as it reaches the shore in shallow water, it can rise to heights of 15-30 meters or more. Think about how a normal wave comes into a shore: the water moves away from the shore and then comes crashing back. This movement "heightens" the destruction power of a Tsunami.

Tsunami's can also reach speeds ranging from 400 to 500+ miles per hour? about the same speed as a jet airliner.

The enormous energy that a Tsunami can possess allows it to travel across entire oceans. They often proceed as an ordinary gravity wave? having a 15 to 60 minute intervals.

From a destruction perspective, Tsunami's have cost not hundreds of thousands, but millions of human lives over the recorded history of Earth.

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey & Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

Resource Box:

By Joe Upsurge

Glyco Nutrients & Stem Cell Production

During the speach, Dr. Reg McDaniel talked about first seeing new stem cells in the peripheral blood of clients using glyconutrients many years ago and not recognizing these cells as stem cells. They were 10 times the size of white blood cells and they were given the name "Gee" cells for some time as that's what Dr. Reg said when he observed these new cells that no one could identify! Now we have the tools to identify these cells appropriately as stem cells which can be used as "master keys" to move to places in the body as the body calls for. About a year ago there was an article in JAMA regarding the stem cells implants of male cells into female bodies of women with leukemia who had received a stem cell transplant. When these women died, male marked cells were found as neurons in the brain.

Dr. Reg realized that this might offer an explanation in the many children with fetal alcohol syndrome that were doing so well with the glyconutrients and others who had advanced so far beyond their perceived genetic limitations. He told the story of several adopted aboriginal children in Canada who had fetal alcohol syndrome who have done remarkably well, improving from IQ's estimated to be around 50 to levels around 100. One girl who had difficulties with reading and numbers and was in remedial classes after 3 years with glyconutrients was able to read a Harry Potter book in a week and discuss what she had read.

When they measure the before and after stem cell counts in the blood, virtually none are detectable prior to glyconutrieints. Within a week of giving glyconutrients, there are 200-400 stem cells seen in a microliter of blood with about 5-10 thousand white blood cells. If one extrapolates to the whole body, it is possible that there are 1.7-3 trillion new stem cells throughout our body as we add in glyconutrients. We're at the beginning of understanding all of what is possible with stem cells. There is an article in the June Scientific American if you want to read more about stem cells.

A New STEM CELL SURVEY CD for the Health Care Professional will be available next week that contains evidence that glyconutrients increase Stem Cell activity in the human body (This is a presentation CD not an audio CD). This NEW Stem Cell CD by H. Reg McDaniel, M.D. documents how glyconutrients integrated into traditional therapy may benefit every disease that Stem Cells benefit and THAT IS EVERY DISEASE.

You may request the CD online at http://www.results4kids.org for a $50 donation. Proceeds are split 50/50 with Fisher Institute for Medical Research and the Results Endowment for Medical and Educational Research. These organizations are seeking major funding for Stem Cell Research using glyconutrients. The syllabus on stem cell information related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can be found at Fisher Institute's website.

Note: Glyconutrients are not intended to heal, treat, or cure any disease.

By Zach Thompson

Traffic Zoology

There is a secret zoo that runs encaged along the roads.

They are liquid, semi-visible goliaths that rage through the streams and chunks of ordinary traffic, with the effervescent tendrils of mile-long tales whipping behind them like Chinese dragons. Though composed of hundreds of pounds of steel, glass and plastic, they are able to pass through solid objects. They are bound by the laws of the highway, but not by any conventional notion of time or space.

They are Aggregate Traffic Animals: a menagerie of emergent beasts drawn from the interacting behaviours of many individual human beings driving many individual cars with many individual goals, their collective activity giving rise to something with greater presence, power and purpose than the sum of its constituents. They take on a host of different forms, each to serve a different end.

They are real, and they drive among us.

Preamble

In his introduction to The Extended Phenotype (Oxford University Press, 1982) enthusiastic evolutionary biology cheerleader and Commodore-hacking pop-science guru Richard Dawkins invites us to consider the Necker Cube Illusion: a two-dimensional image representing two interlocked three-dimensional blocks in which the foreground and background can seem to flip back and forth as the brain fruitlessly seeks the "true" interpretation of the depicted space. This is Dawkins' starting point for a thought experiment in which he blurs the lines between species, their genes and the environment, calling into question the traditional boundaries drawn through biological systems to identify the relevant level of study. To wit, to wank:

We look at life and begin by seeing a collection of interacting individual organisms. We know that they contain smaller units, and we know that they are, in turn, parts of larger composite units, but we fix our gaze on the whole organisms. Then suddenly the image flips. The individual bodies are still there; they have not moved, but they seem to have gone transparent...

In other words, if you are able to de-emphasise the organism itself you are free to appreciate the idea of beaver ponds as artificial lakes generated by beaver genes, or to see a spider's web as an arrangement of silk drawn by DNA. By extending the lines with which we bound the traditional phenotype, we define new organisms, merging technology and individuals into communities the same way that ancient micro-organisms interacting inside bilipid membranes fell into symbiotic lockstep dances to found the first stable cells.

Organelles, cells, bodies, herds: at which level we discern the animal is purely a matter of focus.

This idea of the emergent animal or "super-organism" is hardly particular to Dawkins: William Morton Wheeler remarked on the idea in his 1911 paper "The Ant Colony as an Organism" in a treatment that is every bit as cogent but with considerably less otaku chic than Kevin Kelly's printed-soundbyte manifesto on hive complexity, Out of Control (Perseus Books, 1994). In the words of Kelly:

There is nothing to be found in a beehive that is not submerged in a bee. And yet you can search a bee forever with cyclotron and fluoroscope, and you will never find a hive.

So too can you examine a driver in a car and know nothing about the greater animal in which they both participate when the circumstances are right. Some of the applicable forces can be seen most clearly in the rarified environment of the professional race course, as explored by David Ronfeldt, a senior social scientist at RAND, in his 2002 paper Social Science at 190 MPH on NASCAR's Biggest Superspeedways, where fleeting moments of co-operation between rivals are necessary in order to win. Ronfeldt focuses in particular on the phenomenon of draft line formation, which is similar to the way flocking birds can share aerodynamic advantage. Like iron filings in a magnetic field, the large-scale distribution of opportunistically partnering cars are drawn into predictable macro-scale patterns across the speedway:

Once the racers sort themselves out - after ten to twenty laps - it is common to see a single draft line of four to seven cars running in front, pursued a hundred or so yards back by a second line of cars, all another hundred or so yards ahead of a large pack of cars that may still be running in parallel lines but are doing more dicing than drafting...Cars that run alone, often stuck dangerously between two draft lines, will appear to drift irrevocably backward.

Freed of the bonds of racing's formalism, the Aggregate Traffic Animals are born, rooted in transient symbioses between individual patches of drivers that will crystalise into the organs of the beast. But the circumstances have to be just right for one to emerge. The unholy Hieronymus Bosch-style concert of homicidal applied-shadenfreude that may characterise your urban, intra-urban or sub-urban driving experience is not ripe ground for ATA growth: too frothy.

The sociological and scatological dances of the megalopolis rushhour, too, are beyond the scope of this article, and are at any rate most likely best explored with deep computer simulations using high-tech cellular automata tools with average driver profiles linked to real-world statistics of roadway usage coupled with an army of ten thousand angry ax-wielding orcs battling an equal number of obedient clonetroopers.

Rather, this field is perfect fodder for the amateur ethologist, observing phenomena with a keen eye, an open mind and a sharp pencil. And while much has been written about manipulating traffic waves, the dynamics of traffic jams and phase-transitions in traffic density, very little time has been devoted to the observation and cataloguing of persistent multi-car zoomorphia.

Early Observations

The author first became aware of the existence of ATAs while making his way through the hinterland of Canada on a long, mid-winter solo drive in a decrepit Dodge Charger with no functioning radio. Due to his dangerous penchant for immersive daydreaming in the absence of external stimuli, he began to parasite his driving decisions by locking in behind another car with comparable speed ambitions. By reserving a sliver of awareness for tracking the red brake lights of the "lead" car for changes in speed or direction, the author was able to comfortably enjoy his trance while a hefty burden of road awareness was outsourced to the other driver, causing the front car to function as a sort of early warning mechanism for changing conditions (including the Mounties' speed-traps).

The notion resurfaced while the author was wrestling a dented Volkswagen Rabbit rental down a twisting, pot-holed two-lane jungle highway through the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. As the journey began he found himself hedged inside a short parade of other tourists, all driving their rental cars out of the airport at around the same time at a hesitant pace, breaking frequently to process the unfamiliar leafy darkness ahead. Fearing injury, the author laterally-leapfrogged the indecisive parade and drove on into the murk alone. Remembering his success in the far north, he latched onto the back of a local vehicle (a home-modded convertible Beetle carrying ten people, standing room only), using its varying speed as an indicator of road conditions. Unexpectedly, this move was noticed by several of the other tourists, who began to fight to separate themselves from the melee and join the newer, more surefooted pack that was rapidly pulling ahead...

By the time the author had reached his exit the impromptu fleet of vehicles had become a persistent, homeostatic phenomenon. The fleet had quickly learned to manipulate the spacing between its components in order to remain permeable to faster moving local traffic while defending its integrity against more disruptive external vehicles. Pulses of communication signifying when the passing lane was clear rippled down the chain through a conscientious leaning into the gravel shoulder, assisting in the process of expectorating invaders. Several of the original tourist vehicles ended up being swapped out for other vehicles without rocking the boat. Later on, even the leader was swapped out for another experienced local car.

It was a fetching game, contributing to the welfare of all of its players in an interesting way, but it was not a true ATA. It was too conscious a contrivance to be anything more than a delightful spontaneous social event.

You see, a distributed animal with human components can be very sensitive to perturbations from within. It is only when the conflicting threads of goals, reasoning and competition between individual human minds are quietened into the background noise that the soil can truly be ripe to raise a complex beast. When drivers can fall into a semi-hypnotic state and their herd instincts take over, the seeds are laid for something greater.

Habitat

While there are thousands of traffic animal breeding grounds along the paved networks of the world, only one driving region has been extensively explored at this time, largely due to budgetary considerations.

The TransCanada Highway is a nearly ideal environment for the production of large-scale ATA phenomena, due in great part to the simplicity of its shape: all cars are moving either westbound or eastbound, streamlining the goals of the drivers in much the same way as the shape of the Daytona superspeedway encourages drafting partnerships (see above). Also, because there are long stretches through lonely wilderness and semi-tundra, nascent traffic animals have a long period in which to mature before coming against obstacles like influxes of new cars or navigating around towns; and because the highway wends its way directly through most of Canada's major cities, it provides a handy litmus test for the homeostatic integrity of a given specimen simply by observing whether or not it makes it through to the other side of the urban area intact.

While daytime ATA formation is not rare, it is under the cover of darkness that development can proceed in a comparatively unfettered fashion. This is due in large part to the more abstract, disconnected experience of interacting with other vehicles merely as points of coloured light. Familiar prejudices and stereotypes -- potential sources of destructive competition -- are smoothed out by the shadows. At least on the basis of visual impressions, a Volvo and a Camaro can enter a system as peers.

Diminished visibility resulting from mild to moderate weather conditions can have a similar equalising effect, but when conditions become too severe drivers tend to clump into packs for safety, leading to pseudo-ATA fleets that are all too conscious social events (as in the Quintana Roo experience).

Show me an autumn stretch of prairie transcontinental highway at twilight, and I will show you the secret zoo of the road.

Typical Morphologies

The most basic form of multi-car life is the Asipetal Caterpillar, also known as a worm. Worms begin when a stable solo vehicle spawns a linear, single-lane chain of vehicles composed of loose monomers joining at the rear (a closely related, but dysfunctional, construct known as an Acropetal Caterpillar grows by adding vehicles to the front of the chain, generally leading to destructive diffusion or autolysis). Short, lithe worms are the fundamental building blocks of healthy ATA tissue. Perverse, long-form worms are the seeds of congestion and death.

The second atomic element of ATA tissue stands in stark contrast to the worm, for it is a fleeting thing, and when it takes concrete form at all it is often manifested as a single car. The Apparent Coxswain is a vehicle that appears, to the conscious or semi-conscious mind of one or more drivers, to be a leader of the worm. When the Apparent Coxswain changes lanes, there is a higher probability that a majority of the worm will follow suit than if the change were initiated by a less trusted vehicle. In many cases each car in a worm perceives the car immediately ahead of it to be the Apparent Coxswain, leading to domino-effect lane-transitions; such formations have high homeostatic integrity because of the worm's ability to "find a new head" should one Apparent Coxswain be lost to the currents. (Please note: the Apparent Coxswain should not be confused with the Virtual Coxswain or the Napoleonic Coxswain, discussed below.)

Formations that achieve such integration become Cholingers: Asipetal Caterpillars with tightly-integrated internal feedback systems of Apparent Coxswains, capable of transmitting information from tip to tail with high fidelity. Cholingers can slither to avoid torn tyres on the road, twitch around slow-moving vehicles, and even slip through packs of alien worms, wild axenes and other traffic froth to arrive on the other side intact.

Of course, not all Cholingers slip through the strangers: sometimes they interact.

Every Cholinger is either benthic or pelagic. Benthic Cholingers travel at a similar rate to the currents of the road, while Pelagic Cholingers travel at a dissimilar rate when compared to other traffic (typically a faster rate). It is possible, however, for a benthic line to be picked up and carried along by a pelagic cousin, leading to a coupled form. This is the first real Aggregate Traffic Animal we will meet tonight: a bilaterally asymmetrical diageotrope known as the Epiphysian Cyclosalp.

Within the body of the Cyclosalp the individual Cholingers are transmuted into a pair of Librigenates -- stretchy, free-flowing tissue that is bounded in space by the relationship with its partner, the accelerating pelagic lobe sliding forward and the steady benthic lobe catching up in a slow-motion slingshot, compressing and expanding between the loose, senseless clumps of other cars. This accordion-like effect might initially seem to be a force tearing the animal apart, rending pelagic from benthic -- and this is indeed what might happen in too rarified an atmosphere -- but when presented with obstacles of any kind, the Librigenates that comprise the Cyclosalp fall back on their Cholinger heritage of local integrity, crystallising en masse to navigate the hazard.

Unfettered, the Epiphysian Cyclosalp is like half a butterfly, its riparian body gilded by a slowly flapping wing of accelerating, gliding Librigenates ebbing and flowing in a stately round. Its insides whorl as partners switch places, benthic turning briefly pelagic, pacer cars joining a rippling pulse of local inertia forward, headlights cross-sweeping.

It is beyond the scope of this article to detail the myriad circumstances that provide seed for the profitable entanglement of multiple Cyclosalpic streams. So diverse are the possibilities that we could fill a Biblical tome without scratching the surface, without revealing the common thread of simplicity upon which the complexity hinges. Suffice to say the larger clade includes such varied forms as the whiplashing Epinastic Tricyclosalp, the many-fingered Dicyclosalp Fimbriatum, and the diaphanous, fleeting wonder of the mile-long Merosporangic Super-Cyclosalp...

Of course, not all Asipetal Caterpillars grow up to become stately Cholingers; instead, they lock into Lego-like bricks of uniform properties called Pycnoblastoids. While short-lived Apiculate Pycnoblastoids (in which the Apparent Coxswain is always the most forward car) are more common, it is the more flexible Laxiflorous Pycnoblastoid (in which the Apparent Coxswain is any car except that most forward) that lives a more fruitful life.

For instance, consider the case of a typical composite entity like a Tripycnoblastic Oomycotum, in which independent pycnoblasts jockey for position internally directly or by proxy through one or more Napoleonic Coxswains (that is, drivers who suffer from the delusion that they are single-handedly responsible for steering/leading their local sub-structure). The domino-line behaviour of an Apiculate Pycnoblastoid makes it too brittle to survive the stresses of being permeated by a competing pycnoblast, whereas the comparatively elastic structure of the Laxifloroid -- imparted due to the inherent time delay involved in co-ordinating with a mid-fleet Apparent Coxswain -- retains a perfect balance of rigidity and looseness, riding a line between orchestration and dissolution that makes composite forms like Oomycota possible.

Pycnoblastic tissue is unusual in that it makes use of some level of awareness on the part of the driver that they are participating in a formation (though drivers are only likely to be aware of the local level of structure). When this awareness reaches a certain level the composite entity is usually destroyed by internal stresses, but occasionally a dissolving multi-pycnoblast will emit a stream of highly energised vehicles -- the Apheresoid Lirellate, a concentrated apiculatoid pycnoblast flung free from the miasma of death to rocket away, using for a coxswain the abandoned carcass itself.

...These are but the fringes of the zoo, the tip of the iceberg.

We have not even touched on the sensitive antennae of the Stipitate Phototaxites fringed with Virtual Coxswains, pseudo-lead cars ready to be sacrificed to trip any trap, the chaotic wrath of the Biflagellate Ableptic Figmo and the fate of the cystidial flotsam locked within them; the weird rhythms of the Cacospysic Super-Barbicanoids and their elaborate dance of shifting coxswains, the majesty of the motorcycle-based Raging Fallaxoid; the menagerie of endless cancers that can grow from unexpectorated papillic granulomae, from cataracts of geriatric nektons, or from service-stations with badly planned driveways.

Further Study

The study of a new order of life is not without its risks, both professional (in terms of reputation) and practical (in terms of being maimed by mis-navigated vehicles). The amateur automotive ethologist must not only have keen skills of observation, but also the fortitude to persevere despite the slings and arrows of dubious dissenters. Like Leeuwenhoek's controversial animalcules and Pasteur's superstition-defying microbes, there will always exist a certain testudinal resistance to new ideas among older quarters. There will be those who doubt the very existence of aggregate vehicular life, or who insist that the zoo of the road dwells in metaphor alone.

The opinions of such sceptics could be changed by a single night spent on a grassy hill overlooking a well-travelled country highway, watching the streams of red and silver lights merge and split, compress and attenuate, roil and interact, fatten and reproduce...

Watch the roads, and see the zoo for yourself. There is no denying its patterns of insectile purpose, its myriad variations in anatomy and configuration, or the orchestrated madness of the low-cost petroleum feeding frenzy. Your own mind, honed by thousands of generations of natural selection to recognise life from non-life, will tell you it is true; the disciplines of careful observation and meticulous classification will tell you how, and why.

Open your eyes, and witness an untapped world.


By Matthew Hemming

Pre-empt the Radiation or Die

At West Point, in a speech, President George W. Bush shared the doctrine of pre-emption with his cadets that he articulated as a countermeasure to September 11 attacks. Pre-emption, defined as the anticipatory use of force in the face of an imminent attack, has long been accepted as legitimate and appropriate under international law. In the New National Security Strategy, however, the Bush's first administration was broadening the meaning to encompass preventive war as well, in which force may be used even without the evidence. This particular idea had still been severely debated and really staled but Professor Lawrie Challis's invention has brought the President's angle back into perspective.

A simple magnetic bead can reduce the radiation from hands-free mobile phones to virtually zero. His set of kits stops the radio waves traveling up the wire and into the head. His take was mobile industry should start using it as a standard and promote it as a marketing material.

Mobile Manufacturers Forum rejected Professor Challis's call for them to be used on hands-free kits. They said, "Beads can have an impact. But the bigger issue is that mobile phones are tested to be comply with standards and have been passed safe."

Reducing emissions to the head to zero is possible but manufacturers neglect to put them on hands-free kits. Ignorance is bless. Tests are king. The reality is, even one customer with skepticism of practices is enough for an avalanche in the industry.

Look at the tobacco industry? Undoubtedly, the most regretful people not to come up with such an idea like Bush's were they. The most reviled industry has reached the peak level of saturation but could not cope with ceaseless accusations since the beginning of the 90s and lost enormous ground. The strategy of being contentious in good, old days - just like telecom is doing today - triggered looming litigation threats, which in turn, caused big tobacco companies' stock market value to plummet dramatically.

Today, ranging from pharma to food, plenty of industries would be feeling the same pressure that tobacco guys had a decade ago. The lesson is obvious. If a considerably large company is somewhat related to health, it is to their benefit to take extra care of sanitary issues.

Professor Challis accepts that there is no evidence saying mobile phones are harmful to health. Though, he also points out that people have not been using them long enough for us to be sure. He, as the chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Program, has a concrete point.

Adding to that, customers need to see companies doing everything they could to better serve to their health. Customers are customers but they are more hostile than competitors when it comes to the reasons of their doctor visits.

The simple, softheaded strategy is pre-empting the attack through applying Challis's technology. This is a golden opportunity given to the mobile manufacturers. Take it, don't leave it!

On one of those "Today Show" with Matt Lauer, Donald Trump said: "I learned a lot from my brother who was an alcoholic? And I watched his life just be destroyed, I don't drink, I don't smoke. I never had a drug in my life ... alcohol is a drug. I mean, alcohol and tobacco are both terrible drugs. And, you know, I'd like to see the lawyers start going after the alcohol companies, cause I think alcohol is a much greater detriment than cigarettes."

Legendary icon can be called sentimental. Though, he is pointing fingers in front of the public and lawyers would be excited to follow his order. However, the reality is that, the effect would not be as bad as tobacco industry as they achieved to pre-empt the attack by expanding their product line into non-alcoholic beverages and transformed their holistic market message to 'Drink Responsibly'. This has put industry into low-key.

Every possible way to improve end users' healthy relationship with the product needs to be heeded. On some extreme cases, it may be unattainable. Then, companies should focus on health on their R&D purposes and align their product line accordingly, which can be named as pre-emption. Challis's finding, in that respect, is given. Even though there is no sign of an imminent attack, it is the future where problems and past where answers lie. If mobile industry insists on not accepting it, customers will be there to hunt them down.


By Burak Fenercioglu

How Satellite TV Systems Originated

What we know as satellite tv actually had its origins in the space race which began with the launching of the satellite Sputnik by the Russians in 1957. The first communication satellite was developed and launched by a consortium of business and government entities in 1963. It was known as Syncom II and achieved an orbit at 22,300 miles over the Atlantic. The first satellite communication was between a U.S. Navy ship in the harbor of Lagos, Nigeria and the U.S. Army located at the naval station at Lakehurst, New Jersey on July 26, 1963.

Telephone companies began using satellite communication for communicating as land based distribution methods became overloaded. Television began using satellites on March 1, 1978 when the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) introduced Public Television Satellite Service. Broadcast networks adopted satellite communication as a distribution method from 1978 through 1984. As the use of satellites for communication and broadcast purposes increased, it became evident that everyone had the potential to receive satellite signals for free.

Direct to Home (DTH) satellite receivers were developed in the early 1980's. Rural areas thus gained the capacity to receive television programming that was not capable of being received by standard methods. With the development of television receive only (TVRO), broadcasters began to complain that reception of their signals were being either received illegally or pirated. The position of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was governed by its "open skies' policy. It was the FCC's position that users had as much right to receive satellite signals as broadcasters had the right to transmit them.

The broadcasters, in response to this government policy, began to use developed technologies which allowed them to scramble the signals they were broadcasting. Users, in turn, had to buy a decoder from a satellite program provider that packaged programs similar to the packages provided by cable systems. Ideas began to abound about the potential market for satellite television. The FCC, following the World Administrative Radio Conference of 1979, in 1980 established the plans and policy for a new service, direct broadcast satellite or DBS. This new service was to consist of a broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit, facilities for transmitting signals to the satellite and equipment needed by individuals to access the signals.

Early successful attempts to launch satellites for the mass consumer market were led by Japan and Hong Kong in 1986 and 1990, respectively. The first successful attempt by the United States was made by a group of major cable companies and was named Primestar. Next came Direct TV. Echostar Dish Network entered the market in the Spring of 1996 offering cheaper prices and forcing all of its competitors to do likewise.

Alchemy: Turning Rocks to Gold Since the Middle Ages!

Alchemy. Such a misunderstood science. I hope this article can help set things straight for whomever reads it.

Alchemy is an ancient art, first practiced in the Middle Ages. It was devoted to finding a substance that would transmute, (or turn) common metals in to gold, silver or other precious metals, and also to cause immortality in humans. Alchemy was most likely the first time people dipped their toes into chemistry.

Alchemy began in Ancient Egypt, and was especially prevalent in Alexandria in the Hellenistic period. At the same time, China had been tinkering with the ideas as well. Early writings about alchemy by greek philosiphers are sometimes thought of as the first chemical theories. Empedocles (im-ped-oh-klees) formed the all too famous theory that all things in existence were made of air, fire, earth and water. Later, the emperor Diocletian (die-oh-klee-shun) ordered all of the Egyptian texts on the chemistry of gold and silver to be burned and for all expirements to stop.

Zosimus the Theban disvovered that sulfuric acid is a solvent of metals, and, using this, he removed oxygen from the red oxide of mercury, turning the oxidized mercury pure again, much like if you took rust off a nail, it would be a normal nail again. Alchemy's fundemental concept came from an Aristotelian doctrine saying that all things tend to reach perfection at some point. Since other common metals were "less perfect" than gold and other precious metals, it made sense to these researchers that these metals would eventually turn to gold. Also it was thought that nature must make gold out of common metals deep within the earth, so with any luck, this process could be done in the lab with good result.

Eventually Alchemy reached Arabia, where the first book on Chemistry was written. From there it travelled through Spain, into Europe. Roger Bacon, and Albertus Magnus both believed that transmutation to gold was possible. Most people, including these two famous Alchemists, believed that gold was the perfect metal, and that if the philosipher's stone was created, it would be a substance so much more perfect than gold, that it would make the less perfect metals transmute.

Roger Bacon believed that gold dissolved in Aqua Regia* was the elixer of life. The Italian Scholastic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, the Catalan churchman Raymond Lully, and the Benedictine monk Basil Valentine also did much to further the progress of chemistry and alchemy, in discovering the uses of antimony, the making of amalgams, and the isolation of spirits of wine, or ethyl alcohol.

Perhaps the most famous Alchemist was the Swiss Philippus Paracelsus. He believed that the elements of compound bodies were salt, sulfur and mercury, representing earth, air and water. Fire however was imponderable to him. He believed also, that there was one more element, the source of the four ancients. This one element that created everything was called Alkahest, and he stated that if it were found, it would prove to be the universal medicine, an irrisistable solvent, and the philosipher's stone. In other words, it was the ultimate form of perfection.

After this, the alchemists of Europe split into two main groups. Those based on facts and hard research, and those who dabbled in the metaphysical, these entangled alchemy in fraud, necromancy, and imposture. This gives alchemy the current mysterious status.

Perhaps the most fun part of Alchemy is the coded engravings that were made during the time. Many of them are still around, and almost impossible to decifer without an explaination. Using obscure characters including the planets themselves as symbols for who-knows-what. Kings, queens, crows, multi-blossom flowers, and green lions abound.

Stem Cells (The Truth)

The much publicized stem cell research debate focusing on moral arguments is off target with the goal of real progress in the direction of human physiological benefits potential. No matter what side of this issue you come down on, practical considerations ultimately trump this emotionally clouded subject. Stem cells are a valuable renewing asset of human physiology and thus are deserving of our intense interest, but passionate disagreement about research and cloning issues miss the mark of discovering just how simply we can use what we already know about stem cells and how we can benefit from that knowledge to improve the health of everyone.

Let us start with the basics. Stem cells are produced in the bone marrow of our bodies. They have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell or a red blood cell. Stem cells have the ability to regenerate any other cell in the body. Thus a stem cell can become a neuron, a liver cell, a brain cell, a fingernail cell, or any other cell that needs to be replaced or repaired.

Because recent progress has been made in the area of naturally increasing the production of stem cells in the human body, researchers mistakenly believe that the injection or the artificial means of increasing the stem cell count in a person is the pathway to curing diseases. This line of experimentation has already shown to be a direct route to disaster. Implanting stem cells in laboratory animals has created malignant tumors and has otherwise resulted in various counterproductive effects ranging from slow and costly to lethal. There is no substitute for the body's natural production of stem cells. This system has been developed over eons as opposed to the recently generated arrogance and stupidity of our thought processes that think this marvel of human physiological engineering can be reproduced in a laboratory.

Compare, if you will, the costs of helping the human body naturally increase its stem cell output with artificial method of harvesting and injecting stem cells into the body. The cost of increasing your stem cell output naturally is about $50 to $100 dollars. This method of increasing cellular function through the addition of certain nutrients to your diet will produce about 1 trillion stem cells in one week. No waiting for the stem cells to activate. There is no risk of rejection because these stem cells are produced from your own bone marrow. There is no risk of these stem cells mutating into some hideous malignancy because these stem cells did not come from somewhere outside of your body. Contrast this with an injection of between 200 and a million stem cells from questionable sources for between $15,000 and $250,000. Plus the fact that you will have to wait for your immune system to recover from the transplant and hope that enough of the transplanted stem cells survive the attack of your own white blood cells to do any good. Let me think while I contemplate budgetary constraints and health risk factors. Nope, I think I'll forgo the freakish laboratory science experiments and choose the healthy natural way to stem cell generation and recovery. Shall we rethink this thing called stem cell research? As I think about this subject, I come up with something like, "very interesting, but dumb!"

Research done on embryonic stem cells are obviously not going to be the source of a cure for anything except the search for some black hole in which to dump a lot of resources that can be allocated to much wiser pursuits. It has been shown that the safe, natural and effective increase of stem cells in the human body can be achieved by the addition of certain nutrients to your diet. Give your body the nutrients it needs to produce trillions of stem cells on its own. Recent research shows that adding these necessary ingredients to your daily food intake will result in an increase in the stem cell count coming form your own bone marrow stem cell production. This situation can lead to the restoration of cell function throughout the body. And it is important to consider that this can be achieved with but a small fraction of the cost of such extravagant and risk laden procedures as are mentioned above. The fact that safe and effective increased stem cell production can be induced by dietary supplementation is a common sense approach that needs to be considered as a worthy course of action against the backdrop of this rather bizarre public display of emotional outbursts, hastily funded research, morally based arguments and fantastically expensive therapies that we have been obsessed with lately.

Our new understanding of how stimulating the development of bone marrow stem cells, which have the capacity to develop into any cell the body needs, has provided us with a scientific understanding of how many different areas of the human body can be maintained and repaired where our previous knowledge of such benefits were thought not to be possible. Restorations in such vital and complex areas as brain function with dietary supplementation as the catalyst is an amazing discovery. Imagine, if you will that people who have suffered the loss of brain and central nervous system function due to strokes, trauma or neurodegenerative disorders can heal and regain lost abilities that previously physicians and scientists had regarded as permanent and irreversible. That is the magic of the properly supported human machine.

So, don't hold your breath for embryonic stem cell research to develop the cure for Alzheimers or anything else. That just "ain't goin' ta' happen'." Help your body produce all of the stem cells needed to maintain and repair itself with appropriate nutritional support. Remember to move your body, eat well, supplement wisely, drink plenty of pure, filtered, and enhanced water and support your body's natural ability to produce the stem cells necessary to maintain and repair itself while it continues to move you toward health and wellness.

By Steve

Creation

CREATION OF ANIMATE FROM INANIMATE: - We have touched upon some scientific dry wells and frauds already. The idea of cold fusion and perpetual motion that the Utah researchers may not have achieved was just dealt with: but a recent report showing a Utah student using Farnsworth's old designs is another example that makes me think Cold Fusion is going to be a reality. Chaos is the operating fact of the universe that does actually adapt and create or mutate through qualitative and quantitative leaps according to the Russian (Check out the New Frontier people who have a site on the web.) and mystical scientific paradigm-thinking. Thus many of the normal behavioral observations can only explain part of the day to day 'reality'. A few decades ago science generated proteins from apparent nothingness and declared they had created life from inanimate. This concept and experiment was partially replicable and became touted and taught throughout all schools, but it was less than what it was represented to be in the final analysis. NASA now pronounces there is life everywhere including interstellar vacuums. Microbes are not the only reason for this truth.

Just as there are archetypes in our minds the equivalent templates of knowledge exist in the 'ether' or 'cosmic soup'. Together and inclusive of all knowledge we get the Universal Mind or Harmonic Convergence. These things are shallow images of what really can be done with joined effort of mind and soul through the attunement of adept practitioners and observers of nature. The Jewish 'Golem' is supposedly able to invest the soul of a dead person into the fashioned earth and matter that the Rabbis or other magicians work with. The alchemist's 'homonunclus', and gargoyles being brought to life by Kafka: legends abound in many cultural settings. The possibility of such an act of creation is more mind-blowing to any rational person than even the focusing of dimensional forces. How could one actually tap their genetic knowledge to cause any form of life to exist. Yet it would appear mere science can create some rudimentary building blocks and that energy can be directed through super conscious latticeworks that retain information much as the silicon computer chip or digitized quantum bits of cognized information. The one dimensional harmonic forces of String Theory that combine to form membranes and other 11-dimensional realities are quite reminiscent of the concepts of animating and transmuting the form of matter (which is just lower level or dross energy).

The amount of time that man has been aware and creatively focused on attunement is far longer than the time he has been fixed on power and material greed. It didn't require writing it down. In fact it isn't very easy to explain how chaos or creation works by any scientist who can demonstrate the mathematical formula. Yes, we see there are eloquent images and fancy terminologies. What the formula can do is still largely unproven in terms of what the apparent potential might yield. Man is on the verge of being able to create and have robots to create as self-replicants and restructuring of wood or other energy into food or gold. This is the expected near future outcome with nanotechnology and 'replicators' much like the Star Trek images have brought us for many years.

Bucky Fuller called it creative realization and said that anything we can imagine is achievable through our acceptance and focused intention. He was saying it in dry and often scientific or even incomprehensible language but he is right. So we can say that 'survival of the fittest' is a rude natural fact that 'creation' can alter and surpass. The ancient ideals of Godheads and akashic or other direct cognition are worth exploration because the world of 'seems to be' is really what ever we can create. Hopefully my naïve perception about RIGHT THOUGHT=RIGHT ACTION from the laws of the Magi is an operating principle.

Did Mungo Man's line of humans go wrong? How much of these things did they learn? Did they teach some of our kind to do some of these things? If 'fittest' can be conceived with a God-like PURPOSE and there truly is an effort of all energy to harmonize and find the most creative application (or happiness) then we are in for some fantastic voyages of splendiferous 'reality'! Can these images of heaven on earth really come about? Or will our ethical malaise ensure old line greed overtakes a universe of possibilities. Science already gives a power to do many things which in the hands of certain people generates a great deal of concern. Was it John Donne who said if one man suffers we all are diminished? The natural ways that energy and its consciousness form and weave matter are the subject of observers in science once again. Dr. Don Robbins is a solid state chemist whose work I truly appreciate. In the following excerpts from an article titled 'Nanotubes for Electronics' from Dec. 2000's Scientific American please imagine how these naturally occurring objects occur if there is no consciousness in matter, and remember the ancients did have lenses for telescopes and microscopes.

"Nearly 10 years ago Sumio Iijima, sitting at an electron microscope at the NEC Fundamental Research Laboratory in Tsukaba, Japan, first noticed odd nanoscopic threads lying in a smear of soot. Made of pure carbon, as regular and symmetric as crystals, these exquisitely thin, impressively long macromolecules soon became known as nanotubes {And even if the ancients didn't have adequate microscopes the existence of these fits with the science of lattices and energy we can measure in Stonehenge and the kings chamber of the Great Pyramid. They were able to attune with it.}, and they have been the object of intense scientific study ever since.

Just recently, they have become a subject for engineering as well. Many of the extraordinary properties attributed to nanotubes--among them, superlative resilience, tensile strength and thermal stability--have fed fantastic predictions of microscopic robots, dent-resistant car bodies and earthquake-resistant buildings {The poured in place concrete in Peru with angled rocks that 'fit' like the Great Pyramid?}. The first products to use nanotubes, however, exploit none of these. Instead the earliest applications are electrical. Some General Motors cars already include plastic parts to which nanotubes were added; such plastic can be electrified during painting so that the paint will stick more readily {And be made smooth and even through the use of a laser measuring application.}. And two nanotube-based lighting and display products are well on their way to market.

In the long term, perhaps the most valuable applications will take further advantage of nanotubes' unique electronic properties. Carbon nanotubes can in principle play the same role as silicon does in electronic circuits, but at a molecular scale where silicon and other standard semiconductors cease to work. Although the electronics industry is already pushing the critical dimensions of transistors in commercial chips below 200 nanometers (billionths of a meter)--about 400 atoms wide--engineers face large obstacles in continuing this miniaturization. Within this decade, the materials and processes on which the computer revolution has been built will begin to hit fundamental physical limits. Still, there are huge economic incentives to shrink devices further, because the speed, density and efficiency of microelectronic devices all rise rapidly as the minimum feature size decreases. Experiments over the past several years have given researchers hope {Remember the bio-ram devices coming from Oak Ridges research, will meld wonderfully here.} that wires and functional devices tens of nanometers or smaller in size could be made from nanotubes and incorporated into electronic circuits that work faster and on much less power than those existing today.

The first carbon nanotubes that Iijima observed back in 1991 were so-called multiwalled tubes: each contained a number of hollow cylinders of carbon atoms nested inside one another like Russian dolls. Two years later Iijima and Donald Bethune of IBM independently created single-walled nanotubes that were made of just one layer of carbon atoms. Both kinds of tubes are made in similar ways, and they have many similar properties-- the most obvious being that they are exceedingly narrow and long. The single-walled variety, for example, is about one nanometer in diameter but can run thousands of nanometers in length.

What makes these tubes so stable is the strength with which carbon atoms bond to one another, which is also what makes diamond so hard. In diamond the carbon atoms link into four-sided tetrahedra, {Bucky Fuller's Synergistics gives detailed insight into structures that has led to a new element being named after him, the Fullerene. His icosahedra and the fact of the Pyramid having two perfectly formed tetrahedra in it leads to creation of delta wave forms out of the cosmic energy.} but in nanotubes the atoms arrange themselves in hexagonal rings like chicken wire. One sees the same pattern in graphite, and in fact a nanotube looks like a sheet (or several stacked sheets) of graphite rolled into a seamless cylinder. It is not known for certain how the atoms actually condense into tubes (see "Zap, Bake or Blast," on page 67), but it appears that they may grow by adding atoms to their ends {Remember the effect of palladium type noble metals from the entry on cancer cures. It is also connected to telomeres which cap the DNA strands and are so important to stopping aging.}, much as a knitter adds stitches to a sweater sleeve.

TUBES WITH A TWIST

However they form, the composition and geometry of carbon nanotubes engender a unique electronic complexity. That is in part simply the result of size, because quantum physics governs at the nanometer scale {As Above, So Below-is the law of the magi that applies and make sense of chaos when fully appreciated, or as much as anyone can.}. But graphite itself is a very unusual material. Whereas most electrical conductors can be classified as either metals or semiconductors, graphite is one of the rare materials known as a semimetal {Calcium and brushite were used in some circumstances we have mentioned.}, delicately balanced in the transitional zone between the two. By combining graphite's semimetallic properties with the quantum rules of energy levels and electron waves, carbon nanotubes emerge as truly exotic conductors. {We will cover copper more in divining rods and the use of natural conductors, that attenuate with such things as water. Pendulums are part of nature's antennae as well. The article has an illustration or photo of a nanotube channel and a comment that says in part - "Electrically conductive macromolecules of carbon that self-assemble into tubes are being tested as ultrafine wires and as channels in experimental field-effect transistors."}

For example, one rule of the quantum world is that electrons behave like waves as well as particles, and electron waves can reinforce or cancel one another {Thus more perfect crystalline structures created in space vacuum conditions like Skylab, are truly able to function with less chaos.}. As a consequence, an electron spreading around a nanotube's circumference can completely cancel itself out; thus, only electrons with just the right wavelength remain." (8)

What can I say? There is so much to know and it is good to have the quantum world to tell us how little we really know, rather than the incessant certainty of other academic disciplines. Under the 'Zap, Bake or Blast section of this article they say something that should allow the reader to make more sense of the 'heating and cooling' that were noted regarding the alchemists work, as well as the 'buckyballs' or Fullerenes that I mentioned in one of my constant interruptions that seek to integrate the knowledge we are exploring.

"Sumio Iijima may have been the first to see a nanotube, but he was undoubtedly not the first to make one. In fact, Neanderthals may have made minuscule quantities of nanotubes, unwittingly, in the fires that warmed their caves {What about Mungo Man? And Neanderthals worshipped in caves as much as anyone ever lived in them at these times. This is another slight example of our egoistic put down of previous humans. There are people homeless in cities living under bridges who would love the security and comfort of a cenote. In fact, a cenote is a very spiritual place that sometimes has hot springs or cold streams. They are quite wonderful. In Xcaret, Mexico they have recreated a Mayan village outside a system of these cenotes. This same place has porpoises you can ride and tells the story of how they came from the early wolf-like creatures of the land.}. Split by heat, carbon atoms recombine however they can in soot, some in amorphous blobs but others in soccerball-shaped spheres called buckyballs or in long cylindrical capsules called buckytubes or nanotubes." (9)

Bucky couldn't 'truck with' education and though they tried to make it easy for him after he had already proven himself, he dropped out. His work as a teacher at Princeton University brought him in touch with Einstein and the story of how Bucky's first book was published is a classic in publishing 'expert' myopia. The editor said he had shown his work to those who knew Einstein's theory and they agreed Bucky didn't know what he was talking about. Einstein intervened to point out to the publisher that Bucky was one of a handful who knew his work and that his insight was correct. His attunements and meditations created numerous very important things and we all could be a lot more like him. I love Bucky! But, I really can't quote him very much because his 'teleologic' presentation and word usage is beyond most people, SO I'm not surprised the editor and his 'experts' were SO befuddled.

"In 1814, with Michael Faraday {truly a great metaphysician and attuned researcher who sensed the field of 'cosmic soup'.}, he analyzed diamond by combustion and concluded that it was pure carbon. Because graphite was also known to be pure carbon, this meant there were two types of carbon, each with different physical properties. Davy's discovery of the allotropy of carbon meant that graphite and diamond existed in two different crystal forms, even though this could not possibly be explained on the basis of Dalton's spherical atoms. By now, Davy was convinced that there were indeed many different kinds of atoms, other than Dalton's {An alchemist who had to fight against so-called hermeneuts while alive, in order to hide his own alchemical nature.}? Faraday was a poor boy who worked as a bookbinder's apprentice... Eventually Faraday far outshone Davy, which Davy on occasion resented." (10)

The history writers who Hellenized all knowledge and are presented as if they discovered it all, like Thales (born to a Phoenician parent like Pythagoras); were able to make many later academics believe that only what survived in writing was known. It is becoming evident to many scholars that the knowledge curve that makes for such sudden growth in ideas is ridiculous; but nevertheless it is rare to pick up a book or article where you don't see the author indicating knowledge didn't exist until far later than common sense and reason dictates. It will be harder to maintain this lunacy now that we know how much more ancient humans really are. So we must understand this when we see Mr. Salzberg writing as a chemist or for the Chemical Association that they are subject to the same history. It is good for people to see the Greeks understood chaos and atomics to a certain extent, nonetheless. It is also important to remember that secrets (including smelting and earlier weapons-making through meteorite hammering) were almost never described except between trusted allies or family members.

"There were, of course, other theories, most notably the atomic theory of Leucippos (c. 440B.C.) and Democritos (460-c.370B.C.), later modified by Epicouros (341-270B.C.) and Lucretius (c.95-55B.C.). According to their atomic theory, there was only one substance {Such as the one-dimensional harmonic force of String Theory.}, the prime matter, which existed in the form of changeless, indestructible, indivisible atoms of different sizes and shapes, moving back and forth randomly with nothing between them, in effect moving in a vacuum." (11)

A Wake Up Call To The Scientific Community

Nature has millions of intervowen interrelationships among the numerous flora and fauna. Such relationships are the basis for the food webs and food pyramids. These food webs and pyramids can give us a broad idea that organisms interact with each other for their food, shelter and mating. Each specific interrelationship if studied in depth can be very interesting and brings to light significant facts of our sorroundings and the importance of each and every living being on this earth and its function in sustaining the ecological processes. In fact if the entire nature is considered one machine, each and every living being has its own role in smooth running of this machine. But knowingly and unknowingly, we have not taken care or forced to destroy such interrelationships in the path of 'development'.

While we talk of big things like "Global warming," "Green House Gases" and such other impending disasters, we are doing little precious either in understanding these interrelationships or our scientific community has not been able to keep pace with the enormity and complexity of ecological relationships.

Even if the world is protected from global warming, can the man and his domesticated crops and animals survive with out the aid of other living beings on this earth? Can the nature sustain such loss of vast number of living beings and even then sustain human living on this earth? Of course not! This is known to every one?everyone in the sense the ecologists and environmentalists on board of scientific institutions and administration and the thinktank behind governments. We cannot expect the politicians to understand such complex science, and neither do they have time to spare an ear. Therefore it is the responsibility of the scientific community to take up such issues and suggest possible remedial actions and incessantly pursue for implementation. They are also duty bound to prevent vested interests who try to hijack the issue for their own selfish ends or satisfy their proffessional egos.

Just as politicians, a lay man (representing the vast majority of the general public) is not expected to know, appreciate or support such causes. Hence once again its is the duty of scientific community, to mobilise public opinion and break all the barriers in implementing conservation measures in every part of the world both in micro and macro scales. Conservation has to be localised instead of conserving things of one continent in the other continent or one country's in the other.

The awareness levels about ecology or nature conservation are at a such a dangerous low, that many people term even zoological parks as as conservation centers! And we know how these parks are maintained in many developing and poor countries!

Lastly conservation programmes should not be seen as programs of wasteful expenditure, but should be seen as a life insurance premium for our own survival!

By Ravikumar Uppaluri

Ocean Polymer Goo to Stop Enemy Ships, a Concept

Naval blockade using polymer goo to stop fleeing ships might be possible. In this concept we will use the goo to stick to the bottom of the opposing navy's vessels. Is operation; "Salad Bowl" a secret weapon? No, blockades have been going on since warships have been used. It is merely another tactic in the arsenal as the modern use of blockades moves forward. Currently we are opposed by an enemy, which is running out of ways to attack us and therefore is looking desperately for new ways to disrupt our flows. This of course will not work long term, but as they try and fight the inevitable to the end and as that end draws nearer we are seeing thru their underground correspondence and call to action, such directions as attacking our ports, harbors, pipelines and supply chains. We know our enemy and we know they know about construction, shipping, oil and are involved in high finance, thus as we saw inn the 9-11 attacks use of such knowledge using a non-linear approach.

We can expect additional attempts on our facilities, supply routes and even attempts to get nuclear weapons into our ports. We must use all available opportunity to show force, strength and power against such potential eventualities. Use of the Salad Bowl Technique is a very important non-lethal use of technology. By slowing or stopping the enemy we control all the chips and can then negotiate a surrender, if not we blow them out of the water which could be catastrophic for the environment, enhance the enemies resolve for further revenge or reciprocal response against our over seas assets or business interests. Such as oil pipelines, hotels, embassies, philanthropic organizations, allies or refineries.

Stopping a single ship is much easier as the "goo" mixture could be airdropped directly in its path by approaching the vessel head on from 100 feet off the deck while simultaneously instituting a directional electronic attack. The Goo would be immediately activated and agitated from the cargo plane airdrop. The unexpected ship would have only seconds to respond, not knowing what was going on or even hearing the aircraft until it was almost upon it. The "goo" would spread quickly and gum up the rudder and propeller. Several large cargo planes could lay down a stripe ten football fields wide along with smoke screen. An attempt to shoot down an aircraft with chafe would be in vain and the mission would be over almost as soon as it started. The ship would be floating in goo for three days stuck. Any attempt to get unstuck would only add to the dilemma and exacerbate the problem of the enemy ship. Any attempt to abandon the ship would render all lifeboats also stuck for the duration of the gooey mess's useful half-life or natural decomposition rate due to the salt water dissolving characteristics of your goo.

If you are unable to negotiate with the International Terrorists as is often the case or you simply choose not to, then you can come in with an AUV shaped like a knife, which could in fact travel into the gooey mess. The AUV would be dropped by one of the three to five aircraft dropping the goo mixture after the drop past the ship and it would swim back monitoring the information of the ship. Has it's engines stopped, has it been disabled, are boats abandoning the ship, has the ships communication system been totally disabled by the EA part of the mission? All information would be relayed to satellite. If the ships continues or evades the goo some how, the AUV will pursue following closely. The AUV will have a small door and extended arm and cut a couple of holes in the bottom of the ship and let it sink at the time of your choosing and calculate the buoyancy to sink it the way you want to? Slow, fast, stern first capsize it onto the starboard side, whatever you wish? Perhaps you want to tip it over to cocoon it from environmental impact sinking it upside down? You do not have to deal with the humans aboard trying to hamper your efforts. The AUV could seal up the holes on the bottom of the ship or topside as it lies on the bottom. Environmentalists are happy, sea life safe, international terrorist threat gone. Next Target!

You might choose to attack stranded ship by air with a smart weapons using non-explosive high velocity missiles which went thru the ship thru the lower levels and the ship would sink as it takes on goo and water. Or use it for target practice for the US Navy for three days, as we seem to be running out of target practice ranges these days with all the islander complaints? Think on this crazy concept, you think it could work?

By Lance Winslow

Atlantis through Science

ICE AGES: - The impact of the ice ages and inter-glacial effects on the rise and fall of ocean levels and the earth readjustments to the departure of the ice cap cannot be over-looked in the human historical picture. Research in the area is far greater than in the recent past and we can learn what might have happened to earlier civilizations on earth. Atlantis is a given name for a civilization that inhabited many islands and coastal regions, in my mind. The idea of one central location makes little sense when one considers such things as Ice Ages and changes in the flow of the Gulf Stream and climate that resulted. Because it lasted for from 30,000 to 100,000 years and may have co-existed with other civilizations rising and falling it is most inauspicious to debate one specific time when it was in Tara or Crete or the Azores or Bimini or even Finias. That seems to be the usual debate among the over 25,000 books written about just this one lost civilization. As long as people don't integrate all facts they inevitably just come up with theories to fit pet or prevailing concepts. In Gateway to Atlantis, 'The Search for the source of a lost Civilization' we see a far better scholar who is doing the right kind of investigation. Mapping of the ocean bottoms and geological understandings as well as studying glacial deposits and tree rings gives a better picture of history than history books.

"In 1960 a scientific paper by Wallace S. Broecker and his colleagues Maurice Ewing and Bruce C. Heezen, of Lamont Geological Observatory at Columbia University, Palisades, New York, appeared in the 'American Journal of Science'. Entitled 'Evidence for an Abrupt Change in Climate close to 11,000 years ago', it advanced the theory that a 'number of geographically isolated systems suggested that the warming of world-wide climate which occurred at the close of Wisconsin glacial times was extremely abrupt. (3)

By examining sediment cores taken from various deep-sea locations, Broecker and his team were able to demonstrate that around c. 9000 BC. the surface water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean increased by between six and ten degrees centigrade, (4) enough to alter its entire ecosystem. More significantly, it was found that the bottom waters of the Cariaco Trench in the Caribbean Sea, off Venezuela, suddenly stagnated, {The Gulf Stream being sent back south from hitting the land around the Azores when the water level was lower suddenly started warming the Iceland and British Isles regions, again.} showing that an abrupt change in water circulation had taken place coincident to the warming of the oceans. (5) Additionally, the silt deposits washing into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi Valley abruptly halted and were retained in the delta and valleys, as the waters from the glacier-bound Great Lakes switched direction and began draining through the previously frozen northern outlets. (6) With extreme rapidity, the water levels of these lakes shrank from maximum volume, down to the much lower level they occupy today. (7)

Among the data drawn on by Broecker and his team to make their findings was the work conducted in 1957 by Cesare Emiliani of the Department of Geology at the University of Miami. He found that deep-sea cores displayed clear evidence of an abrupt temperature turn around in 9000 BC. was responsible for the other changes set out by Broecker et al. (8) However, since other cores examined by Emiliani had not shown the same rapid transition, he decided that the anomalous cores lacked vital sediment layers covering a period of several thousand years of ecological history, and so dismissed them as unreliable. (9) Yet Broecker and his colleagues disputed Emiliani's interpretation of the results. They could find no reason to suppose that key sediment layers could have been lost in the manner suggested. As a consequence, they reinstated Emiliani's controversial findings as crucial evidence of a major shift in oceanic temperatures around 11,000 years ago. (10)

Although Broecker et al seemed keen to promote a date of c. 9000 BC for the rapid transition from glacial to post-glacial ages, there are indications that this event did not occur until a slightly later period. At least three lake sites in the Great Basin region revealed carbon-14 dates around 8000 BC for a maximum water level shortly 'before' they experienced a sudden desiccation after the withdrawal of the ice sheets. (11) In addition to this, marine shells from the St. Lawrence Valley, which provided evidence of an invasion of seawater coincident to a rapid ice retreat, frequently produced dates 'post' 9000 BC. (12)

Broecker and his colleagues accepted the presence of these much lower dates and suggested that the whole matter was complicated by the fact that there had been an estimated 200-year resurgence of glacial conditions, known as the Valders re-advance, around the mid-ninth millenium BC. They therefore acknowledged that their own findings might in fact relate to the recession of the ice fields after this time, bringing the dates of their suggested 'major fluctuation in climate' and the 'sharp change in oceanic conditions' down to well below c. 9000 BC. (13)

THE EVIDENCE OF POLLEN SPECTRA

Further evidence that dramatic changes accompanied the transition from glacial to post-glacial ages came from the work of Herbert E. Wright Jnr, of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, (14) and J Gordon Ogden III of the Department of Botany and Bacteriology at the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware. (15) Both examined the pollen spectra range from sediment cores taken from various lake sites in the Great Lakes area and found they provided clear evidence of an abrupt shift in flora at the end of glaciation. The spruce forests that had thrived in the cold harsh climate for many thousands of years were supplanted swiftly, first by pine and then by mixed hardwood forests, such as birch and oak. Deciduous trees, as we know, only thrive in a warmer climate.

The significance of these findings is the acceleration at which this transition took place. In an article for the journal 'Quaternary Paleoecology' in 1967, Ogden pointed out that some pollen spectra samples showed a 50 per cent replacement from spruce to pine occurring in just 10 centimetres of sediment. (16) In one sample taken from a site named Glacial Lake Aitken in Minnesota, the transition from 55 per cent to 18 per cent spruce pollen occurred in only 7.6 centimetres of sediment, re- presenting a deposition corresponding to just 170 years. (17) The problem here is that conventional geologists and paleoecologists consider that the transition from glacial to post-glacial ages occurred over several 'thousand' years, not just a few hundred {The time it takes for one or two trees to live and die.} years.

These findings so baffled Ogden that he was led to comment: 'The only mechanism sufficient to produce a change of the kind described here would therefore appear to be a rapid and dramatic change in temperature and/or precipitation approximately 10,000 years ago.' (18)

What kind of climatic 'event' might have been responsible for this 'rapid and dramatic change in temperature' {Could this relate to the buttercups found frozen and undigested in Mammoth mouths of the Arctic?} in the American Midwest, sometime around c. 8000 BC? Had it been a consequence of the proposed cometary impact that devastated the western hemisphere during this same epoch?

The knowledge that some 65 million years ago the Cretaceous period had been abruptly brought to a close by just such an impact has softened the most stubborn of minds concerning such a possibility. Broecker himself, in an article written for 'Scientific American' in 1983, now accepted that asteroid or comet impacts might be responsible for the instigation and termination of glacial ages. (19)

This is indeed what Emilio Spedicato has suggested as the mechanism behind the revolution in climate and ocean temperature experienced during this period?" (20)

We will return to implications related to this and the work of Mr. Collins throughout this encyclopedia as we develop real history from actual facts rather than the Bible Narrative. It should be evident that these climate changes had significant impacts on society and created a loss of culture and technology in certain areas of the world. There were probably people who took advantage of these spiritual and other perceptions that resulted as well.

Rover Stuck on Mars?

NASA scientists had to solve a relatively common problem hear on Earth with the Rover on Mars. What do you do when you are stuck in the sand? Anyone who has ever raced off road or owned a 4X4, dune buggy or ATV understands these issues. There are many trucks to getting a vehicles unstuck from the sand. The scientists were able to get unstuck. Now then let's discuss this issue of Mars or Planetary exploration, because I fear that this is only one common problem we will face as we start to explore other worlds.

Well, if you get stuck in the sand or mud in your car, minivan, SUV or pick-up what do you do? Have you ever wondered how you will get out? Have you ever almost got stuck and thought, what if I got stuck. Getting a tow can be very expensive, extremely time consuming and pretty embarrassing to boot. There are ways to prevent yourself from getting stuck in the first place and tactics for getting unstuck without digging your self a bigger hole and burying your vehicles down to its axles.

The Mars rover was well designed so that its feet extend down so getting buried down to the axles is unlikely unless it finds quick sand. But if it found quicksand that would be a find in itself as that would mean water and thus probably life too, so it could send back some really good sample footage. But getting the Mars rover is completely embarrassing never the less and you cannot simple call AAA to tow you out? That just wouldn't be covered on your membership policy? Nice try.

We know on Earth in our gasoline driven vehicles that if you get stuck in lose snow or sand, first you get rid of extra weight; ask passengers to get out. For the rover you can put down all the exploration arms at access points to lift the vehicles up slightly and tilt it in the direction you wish to move.

In a 4X4 or car stuck in sand or mud it helps to move the wheels from side to side, as it pushes the mud or sand out of the way. This can also be done with the Mars Rover or any exploratory vehicles. In a car you then would lightly touch the throttle and ease forward, without spinning your wheels as you might dig in deeper. This too would be smart for the Mars Rover to get unstuck. Moving back and forth helps a car with an area of traction, by shifting from forward to reverse, we know that each time you are in gear you give it a little light touch of the gas until the vehicle gets going. Once the vehicle gets going we simple stay on the gas until we are clear of the mud or sand. This scenario can be used as part of our new protocol for the Mars Rover or exploratory vehicles on other worlds.

Often a vehicle, which is stuck in the mud will need something for traction under its wheels? How about the sample collected on Mars, rocks and stuff, put them under the wheels with the mechanical arm and once unstuck pick them back up if you need them? How many times have you started to hunt for logs, wood, rocks to put under the tires or fill up a rut so you had something to drive on which was solid?

Anyone who has ever got stuck in the mud or sand knows that once you are on safer ground you stop and take assessment of the situation. In other words when you get back on the pavement, you check your car over and look underneath and make sure there is no damage. On a car it is possible that you may have torn or ripped a brake line or caused cosmetic damage to your vehicles which will need to be fixed and taken care of as soon as possible so pieces do not fly off while driving. Remember there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.

After we get any planetary exploration vehicle unstuck we must assess what damage we have caused if any. I hope you'll remember this article when you need the information most. If you are a human in a vehicle stuck in the sand or mud; the towing company is hoping you'll forget. If your planetary exploration vehicles is stuck again the taxpayer is hoping you are listening. Think on this.

By Lance Winslow

Astrophysics and Other Universe Sentient Life

ASTROPHYSICS: - Many other entries will deal with knowledge from this truly amazing field of exploration founded in astrology and chaos science before the Ice Age. There is one question we'd like you to consider at this time. In the recent past, the 'experts' said there were likely some 100,000 lifeforms in our universe (there are others) which are at least as advanced as we are. That was before the Mars meteorites indicate there is water on Mars as well as some biologic form of life. That factor plus water on moons around Saturn or Jupiter has greatly accentuated the statistical probability to the point that it is more realistic to talk about civilizations that may have existed on Mars and Venus, from which we may have come. It certainly makes it likely that there are hundreds of thousands of advanced lifeforms in our own galaxy.

If you refer to our Relativity entry you may reasonably ask if the 'dark matter' or parallel universes are even more populous. The Hubbell Telescope's photo of the center of the known universe was elected the top scientific discovery of 1999 for very good reason. We are not nearly so old or as advanced as others and we are even less important or unique than we have wanted to believe.

By Diveerse Druids

Hominid Inter-breeding

'Kenyanthropus platyops': - Perhaps the 6,000,000 year old men found by a maverick who went behind the authorities back at the Olduvai Gorge will be proven to actually not be outside the australopithecine lineage. But the Leakey family has found a 3.5 million year old human that definitely is, and it was announced after I had written the things related hereto earlier in this effort. I love how these synchronicities occur and how much there is for us to know about ourselves.

"The 'Gang' Hits Again

Those famed Leakey fossil hunters add a new limb to our family tree - by Simon Robinson, Nairobi.

Like other members of the famous 'hominid gang', the sharp-eyed fossil hunters employed by paleontology's Leakey family, Justus Erus spends three months a year scouring the dry, bone-rich riverbeds around Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya. It is a scrubby, desolate landscape, where the people are desparately poor and gun-toting young men are a menacing presence. But it is hallowed ground to scientists because of the clues it offers to early human history. Still, even after five years, Erus, a 30-year-old Turkana tribesman, had scored nary a hit-just bits of animal bones and teeth.

Then one scorching morning during the final week of the gang's explorations in August 1999, at a site called Lomekwi, Erus noticed a white object, just a cm or two across, sticking out of a patch of brown mudstone. 'I thought maybe it was (the bones of) a monkey,' he says. Beckoning the expedition's co-leader, Meave Leakey, wife and daughter-in-law, respectively, of Richard and Louis Leakey and renowned in her own right, he asked her opinion. By nightfall they realized that they had uncovered the partial remains of a humanlike skull.

The fossil turned out to be a totally new prehuman species and last week reignited one of paleontology's greatest debates: Did we evolve in direct steps from a common apelike ancestor between 6 million and 4 million years ago? Or did the human family tree sprout branches, some of which petered out? {No integration of Mungo Man, the 6,000,000 year old find, the Black Skull or many other possibilities!}

In the past 20 years the Leakeys and others have dug up overwhelming evidence showing that between 2.5 million and 1 million years ago, the then lush woodlands and savannas of eastern Africa-where our family tree first took root-were the habitat of rival species, most of which were evolutionary dead ends. But what about before that? Paleontologists have generally agreed that there was just one hominid line, beginning with a small, upright-walking species known as 'Australopithecus afarensis', most famously represented by 'Lucy'., a remarkably complete (about 40%) skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1974.

Now {Ha!} that view is being challenged. The new skull, described by Leakey and six colleagues, including her and Richard's daughter Louise, 29, in 'Nature' last week, pushes the presence of co-existing species back another million years, to between 3.5 million and 3.2 million years ago. That's right in Lucy's time. Yet it is so different from Lucy that they assign their fossil, which they call 'Kenyanthropus platyops', or 'flat- faced man of Kenya', to a new genus, or grouping of species. 'This means we will have to rethink the early past of hominid evolution,' says Meave Leakey, head of paleontology at the National Museum of Kenya. {Who didn't want the Dalhousie professor digging up the 6,000,000 year old bones on the Yale site, that he says aren't australopithecine, to upstage them.} 'It's clear the picture isn't as simple as we thought.' Even Lucy's discoverer Donald Johanson, director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, concurs. 'This is a reminder that there are probably a lot more species out there,' he says.

K. 'platyops' not only had a much flatter face than Lucy, she also had smaller teeth. From the teeth, the scientists conclude that it probably ate fruits, berries and small insects while A. 'afarensis' consumed tougher vegetation like roots and grasses. {The skull appears to have teeth as we do. This description of things bears little fruit of the nature of our ancestors or how they felt, thought and developed the things that really count. It would fit very nicely with the 'cave man' fiction and our 'gradually evolved' species though. Thus you can rest secure in the knowledge that YOU and especially the European (you) are the highest form of life ever found on the face of this planet.} 'They were unlikely to compete,' says team member Fred Spoor of University College London. 'Two species don't usually occupy the same ecological niche.'

Old flat-face could displace A. 'afarensis' as a direct link in the human lineage. Or it may be a part of a branch leading to 'Homo rudolfensis', a species with a strikingly similar face that lived in East Africa between 2.4 and 1.8 million years ago. 'You find something beautiful and new, but the conclusion is you actually know less,' says Spoor. 'But we are getting there.' - with reporting by Andrea Dorfman/New York." (1)

When all things are considered they are being disingenuous. Spoor or the others do know that the afarensis lineage is not related to us. As to the existence of super robustus australopithecines in the time, they don't mention that because the probability of 'occupying the same ecological niche' increases the likelihood that humans and hominids banded together and formed protection groups against these larger foe with ability like their own. That is a possibility I think leads to social and cultural development that would push the meaningful aspects of human life back a great deal further. The spiritual and communicational possibilities of commerce and ritual as well as dance and herbalism, expand as people form larger units. It is likely that sexual relations between different hominids occurred and made mutational potentials to generate genetic streams of over a hundred different types in Africa. To focus on Africa forgets Siberia (Diring entry) and Mungo Man. It loses sight of Gondwana where the genetic material that became all these hominids formed before the split to South America, Australia etc. This leads to many different places on earth developing hominids. Yes, there is much to learn; but if we don't consider all the facts we will keep our heads in a very dark place that doctors might have to use surgical tools like obsidian (as fine as any today) to remove. They have recently found an ape which the researchers think is a cross between a gorilla and a chimpanzee. It is still living in some numbers and I look forward to geneticists telling us what cannot be done while their colleagues say otherwise - some more. And those geneticists did so after I wrote much of this book. They found up to 1.8 million years ago that pubic lice which are only on humans diverged in North America.

By Diverse Druids